Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of Linking Infectious and Narcology Care study participants – HIV-positive people who inject drugs not in HIV Care (n = 349).
| Overall | Usual care, n = 175 | LINC intervention, n = 174 | |
| Mean age (SD) | 34.0 (4.8) | 33.9 (4.6) | 34.1 (5.0) |
| Male | 256 (73.4%) | 125 (71.4%) | 131 (75.3%) |
| Education 11 grades or higher | 243 (69.6%) | 123 (70.3%) | 120 (69.0%) |
| Married or with long-term partner | 113 (32.4%) | 52 (29.7%) | 61 (35.1%) |
| Unemployed | 190 (54.4%) | 93 (53.1%) | 97 (55.7%) |
| Mean years since HIV diagnosisa (SD) | 7.3 (4.3) | 7.5 (4.1) | 7.0 (4.5) |
| Mean CD4+ cell countb (SD) | 365 (270) | 375 (267) | 354 (275) |
| Median CD4+ cell countb (IQR) | 311 (163–492) | 329 (155–522) | 297 (177–458) |
| CD4+ cell count <350b | 187 (56.8%) | 85 (51.5%) | 102 (62.2%) |
| Depressive symptomsc (CES-D ≥ 16) | 292 (89.3%) | 150 (89.8%) | 142 (88.8%) |
| Ever ART use | 43 (12.3%) | 20 (11.4%) | 23 (13.2%) |
| Hospitalized for HIV in past year | 20 (5.7%) | 8 (4.6%) | 12 (6.9%) |
ART, antiretroviral therapy; IQR, interquartile range; LINC, Linking Infectious and Narcology Care.
aControl n = 163; intervention n = 160.
bControl n = 165; intervention n = 164.
cControl n = 167; intervention n = 160.